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Benefits 'should be docked for non-adherence to GP exercise prescriptions'

Patients given exercise prescriptions by GPs could have their benefits cut if they fail to use the opportunity to lose weight and get healthy, a local council has proposed.

The report by the City of Westminster borough council and the Local Government Information Unit says that local authorities should use council tax and housing benefit to incentivise ‘behaviours that promote public health’.

It suggests that adherence to exercise prescriptions should be monitored using ‘smart cards’ that check if a patient has accessed local leisure facilities.

The report says: ‘Relocalisation of council tax benefit and housing benefit combined with new technologies provide an opportunity for councils toembed financial incentives for behaviours that promote public health.

‘The increasing use of smart cards for access to leisure facilities, for instance, provides councils with a significant amount of data on usage patterns. Where an exercise package is prescribed to a resident, housing and council tax benefit payments could be varied to reward or incentivise residents.’

Dr Anouska Hari, vice-chair of Westminster LMC, said she was dubious about the scheme.

She said: ‘I don’t know enough about the scheme to say whether I support it or not, but I believe it would be difficult to implement any initiative that requires additional manpower in the current climate.’

"None of this should put you off taking exercise if that’s what you like to do and are physically able. However, these observations may go some way to explain why all the effort you may be putting in pounding the streets or exercising on a treadmill or cross-trainer are not causing the pounds to melt away. My experience tells me that most bang for the buck for weight loss is had by getting the diet right. For me, that means a diet based on real food that is generally higher in fat and lower in carbohydrate than the diet we are traditionally advised to eat."

what arrogant nonsense = people on benefits- being targeted yet again.have they agreed to their data being shared by the way? shall we start with the behaviour of Westminster councillors.or are they all perfect speciments of humanity (ditto health workers who collude in the suggestion MUST be monitored and 'encouraged' to become role models ).